"Poor Procedural Skills" on Dean's Letter

[Moola]

Hey everybody,
I hope match is going well for everyone. I read my dean's letter today and it was good except my family med attending said that I had "poor procedural skills that did not improve during the course of the rotation...and below the usual third year expectation". I am applying to ENT. Meanwhile on my ENT rotation my attending said that my technical skills were "masterful far beyond the expectations of the course" and surgery clerkship and OB clerkship they said that my skills were "highly satisfactory." I have tons of lab research behind me to demonstrate my technical skills and in my PS i talk about working with my hands in terms of fixing stuff.

All I'm trying to ask is how much would this hurt me for a surgical residency. I have one person in an unrelated field bashing my technical skills while all the RELEVANT people say otherwise. Should I appeal this? Will this really be a matter of life and death? Please let me know.

Good luck to everyone. Thanks.

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[filter07]

I would speak with whoever is writing your Dean's Letter and seek to have the comment removed, as it is inconsistent with other comments and potentially damaging for the field you are interested in. You have nothing to lose by tactfully making your case with the Dean.

On the other hand, in case your appeal loses, I can't imagine how it would be too damaging, especially in light of your other comments. I think you will be fine either way.

 

[Sebastian.]

Since it's from an FP doc, they'll probably just laugh at it. ENT saying you were "masterful" and the surgeons giving you a thumb's up is all you need. At very most all this shows is that you're capable of learning.

I'm just curious. Did the person who gave you the crappy comment know that you wanted to go into surgery?

 

[njbmd]

Hey everybody,
I hope match is going well for everyone. I read my dean's letter today and it was good except my family med attending said that I had "poor procedural skills that did not improve during the course of the rotation...and below the usual third year expectation". I am applying to ENT. Meanwhile on my ENT rotation my attending said that my technical skills were "masterful far beyond the expectations of the course" and surgery clerkship and OB clerkship they said that my skills were "highly satisfactory." I have tons of lab research behind me to demonstrate my technical skills and in my PS i talk about working with my hands in terms of fixing stuff.

All I'm trying to ask is how much would this hurt me for a surgical residency. I have one person in an unrelated field bashing my technical skills while all the RELEVANT people say otherwise. Should I appeal this? Will this really be a matter of life and death? Please let me know.

Good luck to everyone. Thanks.

Make sure that the FM person didn't get you confused with another student. It seems a bit strange for a surgical specialist to say that your technical skills are exceptional and a FM doc to say that your procedural skills were poor. If this is the case, that comment needs to be removed.

If it's not a mistake, then the other letter writers just make the FM person look like an idiot. Either way, you should appeal this because it really sounds like a mistake.

 

[uclachris]

To the internist, procedural skills include skills of the physical exam. So while adroit surgically, perhaps they were saying they didn't like how you did your PE (which is bullocks because everybody has their own style). Anyhow, it's a crappy thing to put in a letter.

 

[tooshorttoolong]

I think that they just read the last paragraph of the dean's letter anyways. What PI is going to have time to wade through 4 pages for multiple hundred people??? You're in the clear.

 

[boston]

Just curious, what sort of "procedures" fall into the realm of a FP anyway?
All i can think of is maybe giving an IM shot...

 

[emtji]

I think this is pretty damning if in a dean's letter. I wouldn't definately do everything i could to get this comment removed.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Its not life and death, but I think you need to move to have it either struck from the letter or otherwise investigated.

Yeah, the surgeons might scoff when they see its written by an FP (assuming its just a chip on the FP's shoulder), but you can't assume this.

Likewise, you cannot assume that the faculty and PD do not read the entire Dean's letter. I know the letters are read pretty closely at my former program, but then I've never seen a 4 page Dean's letter, so perhaps if it were that long, I might just skip ahead to the last paragraph too!

 

[Moola]

My dean refused my appeal and everything will stay. How screwed am I?

What should I do now?

 

[Doc Ivy]

Honestly, it's not good. But even if it's true-- technical skills are something you can practice and perfect (at least I'm hoping they are, for my own sake). The love of surgery and the desire to take care of your patients both INside and OUTside of the OR is what I would hope most PDs are looking for. The rest is what residency is for

 

[Winged Scapula]

My dean refused my appeal and everything will stay. How screwed am I?

What should I do now?

Sorry to hear that - sort of sucks.

Well, not much you can do now except to try and have some reasonable explanation (which doesn't involve bashing FP or the attending who graded you) if you are asked.